Squatter (1962)

Overview

"The Australian Wool Game"

In Squatter, 2 to 6 Players play as Australian sheep farmers (known colloquially as Squatters) as they work to become the most successful farmer. Each player starts with a sheep station, consisting of 5 Natural Pasture paddocks, fully stocked with 3 'pens' of sheep per paddock. Throughout the game players will earn money by buying and selling their sheep as well as from selling wool once per 'year' (circulation of the board) at the 'Wool sale' space. Players will spend this money to Improve and Irrigate their pastures. As players make their way around the board they will encounter many challenges and face the tribulations of Australian farmers including treating Foot Rot, being injured by a tractor and most devastating of all, droughts. The game ends once one player has Irrigated all of their pastures and stocked each of them with 6 pens of sheep, 30 pens in total, becoming the most successful farmer and winning the game.

The game has no player elimination element and everyone stays in the game until the end.

Squatter is a quintessential Australian game, becoming an icon of Australian culture and a staple in many Australian homes since it's release at the Royal Melbourne Show in 1962 on the Australian Wool Bureau stand. Squatter has sold over 500,000 copies and is the most successful board game ever developed in Australia.